Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Bill Willingham's Peter & Max

Hey, remember yesterday, when I talked about all the great comics coming out this week? That was just based on things I'd seen on the blogs of various artists and writers, and it wasn't until I looked at the ship lists last night that I learned all of that goodness was just the tip of the iceberg.

A new issue of Marvel's indie spotlight Strange Tales? Awesome. A new Grant Morrison-penned Batman and Robin? I'm in. New issues of House of Mystery, The Incredibles, Models, Inc., Irredeemable, and Secret Warrrios? Yes, yes, yes, hell yes, and yes.

But the absolute best thing on the ship list for this week, I'm sorry to say, won't be on my To Read list. Because I've already read it.

I envy you lucky people who haven't read it yet, and now get the chance.

Here's the full text from the solication:

Set in the imaginative realm of the award-winning comic book series FABLES, PETER & MAX is a stand-alone prose novel - the first ever published starring FABLES characters!

Long ago, in the deepest dark of The Black Forest, two brothers - Peter Piper and his older brother Max - encountered ominous forces that changed them both irreparably. Thus begins an epic tale of sibling rivalry, magic, music and revenge that spans medieval times to the present day, when their deadly conflict surfaces in the placid calm of modern day Fabletown.

PETER & MAX: A FABLES NOVEL features the deft prose of award-winning comic book writer Bill Willingham and lush ink spot illustrations from FABLES artist Steve Leialoha. The novel also reveals secrets of some of the regular FABLES series cast members including Bigby Wolf, Frau Totenkinder and Bo Peep. Included as well is an 8-page bonus sequential comic story by Willingham and Leialoha that serves as a bridge to the FABLES graphic novel collections.

If you're already a fan of Fables, you won't want to miss this. And if you're not yet reading Fables, this is the perfect place to start. I was lucky enough to read it a chapter or two at a time as Bill was writing the novel last year, and I was on the edge of my seat between installments waiting to see what happened next. You folks are even luckier than you know, since you'll have the whole thing right there in your hands.